AFL: The 15 Biggest Trades in AFL History, Ranked

The biggest trades in AFL history have delivered Brownlow Medals, Coleman Medals and premiership dynasties. As the 2026 Continental Tyres AFL Trade Period opens, The Sporting Base ranks the 15 deals that changed clubs forever.

The 2026 Continental Tyres AFL Trade Period opened at 9am AEDT on Monday, 5 October and runs until 7.30pm AEDT on Wednesday, 14 October, the AFL confirmed. Free agency has been running since Friday, 2 October and closes at 5pm AEDT on Friday, 9 October, and it has already moved stars, with ruckman Kieren Briggs joining Richmond from GWS and Lachie Neale crossing from Brisbane to Collingwood.

Every list manager is chasing the same thing this week: a deal that people are still talking about in 10 years. So we went back through the history books to rank the trades that did exactly that.

How we ranked them

We weighed four things: premierships won by the receiving club with the player in the side; individual honours after the move (Brownlow, Coleman and Norm Smith Medals, All-Australian selection); what the club gave up; and how lopsided the deal proved with hindsight. Only genuine trades are included. Free-agency moves such as Lance Franklin’s 2013 switch to Sydney are left out because no trade took place. The order is The Sporting Base’s opinion. The deal details are drawn from official club and AFL announcements.

15. Bailey Smith – Western Bulldogs to Geelong (2024)

Smith’s move came together in the final minutes of the 2024 trade period as part of a four-club deal that also sent Jack Macrae to St Kilda and Matt Kennedy to the Bulldogs.

Geelong received: Bailey Smith and pick 45
Western Bulldogs received: Matt Kennedy and pick 17

The return was immediate. In 2025 Smith earned his first All-Australian blazer, finished third in the Brownlow Medal with 29 votes and helped Geelong reach the Grand Final. It is the newest deal on this list, and it could climb higher yet.

14. Steven May – Gold Coast to Melbourne (2018)

Melbourne went hunting for a key defender after West Coast’s forwards exposed its backline in the 2018 preliminary final. It got one by turning its Jesse Hogan trade with Fremantle into pick 6.

Melbourne received: Steven May and Kade Kolodjashnij
Gold Coast received: Pick 6

May, a Suns foundation player and former co-captain, anchored the defence that won the 2021 premiership and ended the Demons’ 57-year drought. He was named All-Australian full-back that year. As The Age reported at the time, that same pick 6 passed from Brisbane to Fremantle in the Lachie Neale deal before reaching Melbourne and then Gold Coast.

13. Bobby Hill – GWS to Collingwood (2022)

Hill, who had been diagnosed with testicular cancer earlier in 2022, wanted to move to Melbourne. The Giants settled for a modest return.

Collingwood received: Bobby Hill and pick 40
GWS received: Collingwood’s future second-round pick and pick 43

Less than a year later, Hill kicked four goals in the 2023 Grand Final win over Brisbane and won the Norm Smith Medal with all 15 votes. A second-round pick has rarely bought more on the biggest day of the year.

12. Tom Mitchell – Sydney to Hawthorn (2016)

Mitchell, a father-son selection, had played 63 games for Sydney when Hawthorn backed him to become a star.

Hawthorn received: Tom Mitchell and pick 57
Sydney received: Picks 14 and 52

In his second season at Hawthorn, Mitchell won the 2018 Brownlow Medal with 28 votes. He was later traded to Collingwood in 2022 and played in the Magpies’ 2023 premiership.

11. Dion Prestia – Gold Coast to Richmond (2016)

Knee injuries had limited Prestia to 22 games in two seasons, but Richmond paid a top-10 pick for him anyway.

Richmond received: Dion Prestia and pick 24
Gold Coast received: Pick 6 and Richmond’s future second-round pick

He went on to play in Richmond’s 2017, 2019 and 2020 premierships. That is three flags from one trade, and it made the move one of the most important parts of the Tigers’ dynasty.

10. Brian Lake – Western Bulldogs to Hawthorn (2012)

Lake was 30, three games short of 200, and a year away from free agency. Hawthorn paid little.

Hawthorn received: Brian Lake and pick 27
Western Bulldogs received: Picks 21 and 41

The dual All-Australian defender won the Norm Smith Medal in the 2013 Grand Final against Fremantle and retired in 2015 after three straight premierships. For a veteran on a two-year deal, the value is hard to beat.

9. Jack Gunston – Adelaide to Hawthorn (2011)

Gunston had walked out on Adelaide after just two years and wanted to return to Melbourne. The deal nearly fell over when the AFL blocked a five-club version, but it was restructured and completed.

Hawthorn received: Jack Gunston and picks 53 and 71
Adelaide received: Picks 24, 46 and 64

Gunston played in all three flags of the 2013-15 three-peat. More than a decade later he finished third in the 2025 Coleman Medal race with 62 goals.

8. Charlie Cameron – Adelaide to Brisbane (2017)

Cameron, a former rookie-list Crow, wanted to be closer to family and friends in Queensland. Adelaide agreed to a trade on compassionate grounds, and Brisbane secured him with a single first-round pick.

Brisbane received: Charlie Cameron
Adelaide received: Pick 12

He has played in three straight premierships, in 2024, 2025 and 2026. He kicked four goals in the 2025 Grand Final and three in this year’s comeback win over Fremantle, including the first of the last four goals.

7. Josh Dunkley – Western Bulldogs to Brisbane (2022)

Talks between the clubs lasted the whole 2022 trade period before a deal was struck just before the deadline, and the Bulldogs called their return an impressive haul of picks.

Brisbane received: Josh Dunkley and two future third-round picks
Western Bulldogs received: Pick 21 plus Brisbane’s future first, second and fourth-round picks

Dunkley, already a 2016 premiership player and Charles Sutton Medallist at the Bulldogs, has since won three flags with Brisbane. He played the 2025 decider with a serious ankle injury, then had 21 disposals and 12 tackles in the 2026 Grand Final to collect his fourth premiership.

6. Jeremy Cameron – GWS to Geelong (2020)

This was a landmark deal. The Giants matched Geelong’s restricted free agency offer, the first matched bid in the history of AFL free agency, which forced a trade, and the deal was completed in the dying seconds of the period.

Geelong received: Jeremy Cameron, GWS’s future second-round pick and a future second-round pick tied to Essendon
GWS received: Picks 13, 15 and 20 and a future fourth-round pick

It was the first time a club had sent three first-round picks for one player, and the Cats have no regrets. Cameron was part of the 2022 premiership, then won the 2025 Coleman Medal with 83 goals and captained that year’s All-Australian team.

5. Barry Hall – St Kilda to Sydney (2001)

The Swans handed over three draft picks, including No.13, for the St Kilda key forward.

Sydney received: Barry Hall
St Kilda received: Picks 13, 17 and 45

St Kilda did well too, using pick 13 on future three-time All-Australian Nick Dal Santo. But Hall kicked 467 goals in 162 games for Sydney, was the club’s leading goalkicker seven years running and earned three All-Australian selections. He was named captain for the 2005 Grand Final and led the Swans to their first premiership in 72 years.

4. Patrick Dangerfield – Adelaide to Geelong (2015)

Dangerfield was a restricted free agent and told Adelaide he wanted to join Geelong. The Crows chose a trade over a compensation pick and got more in return.

Geelong received: Patrick Dangerfield and pick 50
Adelaide received: Picks 9 and 28 and Dean Gore

In his first season as a Cat, Dangerfield won the 2016 Brownlow Medal with a then-record 35 votes. He added the 2022 premiership and became Geelong captain in 2023.

3. Chris Judd – West Coast to Carlton (2007)

The blockbuster of its era. Judd, the 2004 Brownlow medallist and West Coast’s 2006 premiership captain, chose Carlton, and the Eagles squeezed out a huge price.

Carlton received: Chris Judd and pick 46 (Dennis Armfield)
West Coast received: Josh Kennedy, pick 3 (Chris Masten) and pick 20 (Tony Notte)

Judd captained Carlton from 2008 to 2012 and won a second Brownlow in 2010, but the Blues never reached a Grand Final with him. Meanwhile Kennedy, the reluctant add-on, won back-to-back Coleman Medals in 2015 and 2016, kicked three goals in the 2018 premiership and retired as the Eagles’ all-time leading goalkicker. Carlton still ranks it among its best trades, and it is one of the few blockbusters that both clubs can claim to have won.

2. Shaun Burgoyne – Port Adelaide to Hawthorn (2009)

It took four days of negotiation, official mediation and a four-club structure involving Essendon and Geelong to get Burgoyne to the 2008 premiers.

Hawthorn received: Shaun Burgoyne
Port Adelaide received: Picks 9 and 16 and Jay Nash

Port Adelaide confirmed its return of two first-round picks plus Jay Nash, while Hawthorn premiership forward Mark Williams joined Essendon to make the deal work. Burgoyne, already a 2004 premiership player with Port, played 250 games for Hawthorn, won three more flags in 2013, 2014 and 2015, and retired in 2021 with 407 AFL games.

1. Lachie Neale – Fremantle to Brisbane (2018)

Brisbane and Fremantle were stuck for most of the 2018 trade period until the Lions did a side deal with Gold Coast to land a second first-round pick.

Brisbane received: Lachie Neale and pick 30
Fremantle received: Picks 6, 19 and 55

Fremantle got two first-round picks for a contracted star. Brisbane got the best return of any trade on this list. Neale won the Brownlow Medal in 2020 and again in 2023, co-captained the club and played in three straight premierships in 2024, 2025 and 2026 across 186 games as a Lion. He has just bid Brisbane farewell and joined Collingwood as an unrestricted free agent, which only underlines what the original trade delivered: two Brownlows and three flags.

The 2026 trade period: what’s on now

This year’s free agency window has already been busy, with Neale at Collingwood, Briggs at Richmond and Toby Greene leaving GWS for Geelong. Now the trade table opens. Sam Marshall has requested a trade from Brisbane to St Kilda, Jack Bowes wants to move from Geelong to Essendon, and Luke Pedlar has nominated Port Adelaide. Deals must be done by 7.30pm AEDT on Wednesday, 14 October, and the Telstra AFL Draft follows on 19 and 20 November.

Will any of this year’s moves end up on a list like this? History says the best deals are not always the loudest ones. Follow every confirmed move in The Sporting Base’s AFL news hub.

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